


Band to the Bone

by ThatSameSong



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Band Fic, Friendship, Gen, Grillby's Dad - Freeform, High School, Music, One Shot, One-Sided Attraction, Teenagers, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 17:50:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13195392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatSameSong/pseuds/ThatSameSong
Summary: Sans, Undyne, and Mettablook perform their first gig as a fully-realized band.  Mettablook and Undyne are ecstatic, but Sans is a little preoccupied.





	Band to the Bone

**Author's Note:**

> A little something based on some headcanons about the characters as teenagers.

Sans leaned forward and shouted into the microphone.

“Is everyone ready for some _music_?” he said.

The mostly empty bar didn't respond to the question. A few patrons looked up groggily from their chosen beverages.

Sans waited for the “cheering” to die down. He was regretting having Papyrus draw a keyhole on his forehead. He had a feeling no one at the bar was appreciating the joke. What a waste of a marker.

“I see the crowd's pretty hot tonight,” he said.

He turned and shot a wink at Grillby Sr. His confidence fell at the lack of response from the dark purple fire monster.

Blushing, Sans quickly turned back to the audience. He wished he could have given himself a good smack for that one. But Sans couldn't help it. One look at Grillby Sr. was all it took to turn him into an oblivious dolt.

“Hang on to your stools, ladies and gentlemen,” Sans said.

He spread his arms.

“We are Skullfuck!” he said.

Mettablook cringed and Undyne rolled her eyes. Neither of them had agreed to that name.

Sans mimed taking a deep breath. He let all of it—Undyne, Mettablook, the bar, even Grillby Sr.--fall away. It was just him, Sans the Skeleton, standing on a stage with his keytar. Nothing could bring him down in this place. It was all about the music.

“We are Skullfuck,” he said again.

Suddenly he was playing. Suddenly nothing else mattered.

The song was one Sans had written especially for that gig. Usually Mettablook did double time as both their singer and songwriter, but Sans had volunteered. He wanted the lyrics to inspire more than static cheerfulness. He was searching for something bold that none of them had ever done before.

However, that wasn't quite what he'd written. The song was definitely impactful, but somehow it wasn't what Sans had envisioned. Somewhere along the way, he'd stopped writing about the contrast between blue and orange. The song became about how the color orange made him feel and about losing himself in the snow.

He didn't really know what it was actually about.  Something about climbing a mountain and tumbling down to the bottom?  He didn't get it, but he liked it.  The lyrics made him feel more like himself.  They made Sans feel like he was alive.  

As Mettablook's beautiful voice came to the forefront of Sans's mind, he realized that he felt warm. Not the usual warmth of standing inside a heated building. This was more comparable to the warmth he felt when Papyrus wrapped a blanket around him and excitedly talked about his day.

Sans was playing his heart out without realizing it. The warmth was touching his soul and he felt like he had fallen in love with the music.

 

* * *

 

  
Undyne downed her iced tea in one and belched. She wasn't usually a fan of fancy-smancy drinks, but she decided to make an exception. It was free after all. A bottomless barrel of drinks was hard to pass up.

“That was awesome,” she said. “Did you see the way I totally destroyed my drum set? Grillby Sr.'s gonna have a blast cleaning that up.”

Sans nodded vacantly. He had plucked the little plastic umbrella from his milkshake and was idly playing with it.

Undyne twirled a drum stick in one hand, her other hand questing for her sixth iced tea of the night. She pulled the glass over to her roughly, knocking several empty ones from the table in the process. A few of the empty glasses rolled off the table and erupted into shards as they hit the floor.

She heard Grillby Jr. grumbling to himself as he rushed to clean up the mess.

“That keytar solo was pretty cool,” Undyne said. “Didn't know you had it in ya.”

She swigged another iced tea. Satisfied, she turned and hurled the empty glass at the wall. It shattered upon impact, earning a stream of incomprehensible swear words from Grillby Jr.

“We're gonna be kings!” Undyne said.

She looked towards the ceiling and pumped her fists in enthusiasm. If they could keep this up, the future was looking pretty damn bright.

Sans gave another of his vacant nods. He was still playing with the plastic umbrella. Sans had been silent ever since they'd left the stage. None of his usual jokes or obligatory congratulations.

Undyne smacked the table.

“Hey, you listening?” she said.

Sans jerked his head up and down like a puppet on strings. He obviously wasn't all there.

Undyne was a little taken aback. What the hell was little Sansy's problem now? They'd done a gig, they had gold coming in, and Undyne had smashed her drum set to pieces. That might not be every monster's definition of a perfect night, but it was pretty up there for her.

Mettablook was watching Sans intently. He wanted to say something, but as usual the words eluded him. Mettablook had been watching Sans out of the corner of his eye during the performance. He'd never say it, but he was just a little bit worried about what he saw in Sans's face during their first—and only—song.

Undyne's eyes went to the plastic umbrella in Sans's hands. She smirked.

“Oh, I get it,” she said.

She swigged another glass of iced tea before continuing.

“That's a nice souvenir from Grillby Sr.,” she said.

The response was immediate. Blushing, Sans shoved the plastic umbrella into his pocket.

“Funny,” he muttered.

Undyne laughed and shook her head. Rattling Sans's bones was a lot easier than it had any right to be. Being in a band with Sans was its own special kind of _pun_ -ishment, but moments like these made it all more tolerable.

“Bet he reserves those for every small skeleton that comes in here,” Undyne said.

Sans focused on his milkshake to avoid answering. He told himself Undyne was being her usual teasing self, but he couldn't help sneaking a glance at Grillby Sr. It was a bit strange how Grillby Sr. knew he was a fan of strawberry milkshakes without him having ever mentioned it. But it had to a coincidence, right?

Blushing profusely, Sans wiped vanilla milkshake from his mouth with the front of his sweatshirt. He needed to stop thinking like that. There was no way Grillby Sr. could have any interest in him. He'd have better luck hitting on Grillby Jr.

He glanced at the fire monster. Grillby Jr. was as hot—pun intended—as his dad, maybe even more so.  As a bonus, he was also much closer to Sans's age.  

_And a thousand times out of my league_ , Sans thought.

He leaned forward on his elbows and sighed. It appeared that train was leaving the station without him.

Undyne frowned as she realized the iced tea train had come to an end. Her gaze searched the room to see if Grillby Jr. was around to get her twelve more glasses.

“How much gold are we getting?” she asked. “I kinda need a new drum set.”

Sans stared into his half-full glass for a minute. He couldn't wait to get home. He hadn't been thinking about it during the performance, but he really wanted to see Papyrus's smiling face again. Sans had been giving himself entirely to the band lately. He hadn't had much time for his cool little brother.

“Um, gold?” Sans said vacantly. “That's...not really in our contract.”

The grin froze on Undyne's face. She clutched the table hard enough to splinter the wood. Screw Grillby Sr. complaining about property damage.

“How much gold did you ask for?” she demanded.

Sans was finally able to meet Undyne's eye, although it took a lot of willpower. He had a sheepish look on his face. Here was the part he'd been dreading all night. It didn't get any easier when the confrontation left the safety of his mind and became a reality.

“Grillby said his dad was looking for someone to play tonight, so...,” he said.

He shrugged in an explanatory fashion.

Undyne slammed her palm against her forehead. Of course. Of _course._

Sans pressed himself as far back against his seat as he could. He thought of teleporting out of there, but he didn't think it was entirely worth the effort.

“I just wanted to play,” he said.

The defense was weak and he knew it. But how could Sans expect Undyne to get it? She wasn't him. She hadn't lived his life. She didn't wake up in his body every morning and go through the same array of thoughts, emotions, and memories.

Undyne measured her response carefully. She wanted to be furious. Table-flipping furious. But what was the point? This was Sans after all.

Despite what he thought, she kind of did get it. Mettablook did as well. They both understood why Sans had wanted to start the band, why he was so passionate about it, why he'd gotten them a gig in the first place. It was all in the way he played his keytar.

Undyne sighed. At least if this band thing completely blew up in her face, the Royal Guard thing was still open to her. She had a feeling Sans would be a lot less fortunate in the long run when it came to employment options.

He'd given his soul to the band. Undyne had just shown up at his house one day with a full set of drums.

“I'm going to beat the living crap out of you,” Undyne said.

Sans braced himself. Okay, that was fair.

Undyne reclined in her seat.  Sans was lucky he was Papyrus's brother.  If he'd been anyone else, Undyne's restraint would have been nonexistent.  Granted, she actually liked Sans.  She knew some people found him annoying, but she had a soft spot for the funny little skeleton. 

Mettablook was in the same boat.  It was ultimately why they'd started the band.  

“After I get some more iced tea,” Undyne added. “Maybe some food too."

Sans was relieved.  Maybe if Undyne ate herself into a food coma, he could avoid her wrath altogether.

He wondered what that other feeling was.  Was Sans  _happy?_ Actually  _happy?_ That was new.  Not entirely unfamiliar, just new.  Sans kind of liked it.  It felt good to actually smile.  The atmosphere at Grillby's was just so welcoming, like stepping out of a blizzard and into a warm house.  Maybe that's what Sans's song had been about.       

Undyne raised an empty glass. Sans and Mettablook followed suit, the former very reluctantly.

They weren't sure what they were toasting. The band? Sans's amazing keytar solo? Their good health? The iced tea? It didn't really matter.

They were Skullfuck after all. Best band in the Underground.


End file.
